Barberry - care in the fall and preparation for winter: feeding, pruning and mulching

Despite the fact that barberry is a very unpretentious culture, you should not forget about the autumn care of the plant (but you can!).

So what kind of care does barberry need in the fall and how to properly prepare it for winter? Let's talk about this further in our article.

The most common types of barberry are common barberry (edible fruits) and Thunberg barberry (fruits are not eaten). Autumn care for each of them is the same.

How to care for barberry in autumn to properly prepare for winter

So, here are what activities it is advisable to carry out during the autumn preparation of barberry for winter:

• Harvest (common or berry barberry).

When to harvest barberry?

Barberry berries ripen only by the middle of autumn, not earlier than October. In this case, it is advisable to wait when the first frosts come, and only after them to harvest.In this case, their taste will be noticeably better (Just do not be late, because hungry birds can get ahead of you and eat up the harvest!).

Important! Green (unripe) berries are poisonous. Wait for them to completely redden!

• Feed.
• Conduct sanitary pruning.
• Cover for the winter (mulch young bushes).

How and what to fertilize barberry in the fall

Barberry is really very unpretentious and can grow on very poor soils. But it's always worth trying. What if the potential of barberry is better revealed if it is fertilized?

In addition, the autumn feeding of barberry will strengthen the plant before wintering, and will also help to quickly recover in spring and go into active growth.

According to the classical scheme, fertilizers are used in the autumn, in which there is a lot of phosphorus (responsible for strengthening the root system) and potassium (enhances the winter hardiness of the shrub and its resistance to fungal diseases). This can be a combination of potassium sulfate and superphosphate, or the use of complex fertilizers such as diammofoska, nitroammofoska or any other fertilizer marked "autumn".

By the way! If you don't want to bother, you can simply mulch near-stem circle of barberry with humus or compost. This will be an excellent long-lasting feeding.

Pruning barberry in the fall: you need to prune for the winter

In the autumn period, the barberry only needs to sanitary pruning. Namely, you need to remove all broken off, dry and diseased branches.

In general, in the fall you can cut your barberry, i.e. make it rejuvenating (remove thickening, weak and excess shoots) and formative pruning (trim the remaining branches in shape = give the plant the desired shape), but only if the following 2 conditions are met:

• If you already have an adult 5-10 year old plant.
• Do this in August and the first half of September (1.5-2 months before the onset of frost), so that the shrub can have time to recover before wintering.

Advice! And it is very desirable after such an early autumn pruning to spray the plant with growth stimulants (Epin or Zircon).

Unfortunately, barberry is known for its thorniness, so use long-handled pruner.

The main (formative) pruning of barberry is carried out in the spring, necessarily before the beginning of sap flow (budding), i.e. approximately in the second half of March-April.

Remember! Barberry responds very well to a haircut: new shoots and leaves appear literally in 2-3 weeks.

Powdery mildew on barberry: is it necessary to spray in the fall from illness

In late summer (August) - early autumn (September), if the weather is excessively rainy (which is especially important with thickened plantings or a shady place), barberry can pick up powdery mildew. Of course, you can carry out the autumn eradicating treatment of the shrub with the same copper sulfate or Bordeaux liquid, but this is not necessary. In any case, next spring, your barberry will be fine.

However, as a rule, most varieties, especially the Thunberg barberry, are resistant to all diseases, including powdery mildew and rust.

Shelter barberry for the winter: is it necessary and how to properly cover (mulch)

Barberry is quite frost-hardy and winter well even in the middle zone (Moscow region). Therefore, no shelter for the winter him not required.

Of course, in cold winters, the tops of the shoots can freeze over, but in the spring they will grow quickly enough again.

However, still young and even more recently planted seedlings barberry should still be insulated before wintering. Namely, it will be enough to just mulch.

Well, now you know what to do with barberry in the fall in order to properly prepare the shrub for winter. The activities are all simple, but only desirable, i.e. optional.

Video: preparing barberry for winter - sanitary pruning, cutting and autumn feeding